Automotive, truck and other vehicular exhaust systems typically include conduit for directing exhaust gas from an engine to a remote location. Such exhaust systems often include a muffler, catalytic converter, resonator, or a combination thereof for treating the exhaust gas before it is discharged to the atmosphere. To accommodate various design criteria, exhaust gas systems usually include several exhaust conduits, tubes, hoses or pipes of various shapes and lengths which are connected together to form a fluid path for the exhaust gas.
The most common way of interconnecting consecutive conduits is to utilize a lap joint. To make a lap joint, one end of a first conduit is inserted within an end of a second conduit. The conduits are then clamped at the region where the conduits overlap. A typical clamp functions to crush, crimp or otherwise deform the outer conduit against the inner conduit. The ends of the outer conduit typically include a plurality of longitudinal slots spaced about its circumference to facilitate crimping or otherwise deforming the outer conduit against the inner conduit.
It is important that exhaust clamps provide a substantially leak-proof and mechanically secure joint. Any leakage of exhaust at a joint presents a safety hazard because of escaping noxious fumes and a noise problem because of the pulsating nature of the flow through the conduit. Since a number of joints occur in most exhaust systems, it is also desirable that such clamps be inexpensive and relatively easy to install, and if possible, also be relatively easy to disconnect and reinstall.
A variety of clamps have been developed for use in association with lap joints. One common clamp is known as a guillotine or saddle-type clamp. This clamp includes a U-bolt which is mounted on a saddle. The U-bolt includes a concave portion that opposes a corresponding concave portion of the saddle. The saddle and U-bolt are forced towards each other through the use of a pair of nuts that are threaded on the legs of the U-bolt. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,719,345 and 4,270,689 disclose guillotine or saddle-type clamps configured as described above.
Wide band, leak-proof clamps have also been developed for use in association with lap joints. Wide band clamps are typically designed to surround lap joints and cover all the deformation or take-up slots defined by the conduits forming the lap joints. Various versions of such clamps are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,226 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,891.